Facilities you wouldnt see on a train

[Blindtraveler]

give me free wifi and dubble plug points and i'll be happy, oh and reintroduce a buffet to all long distance trains.

 

[Crapper]

Having had the pleasure of travelling on Crap Country over the years, I would have to say 'seats' would be a rather novel and useful facility.

 

[allticketspls]

How about massage tables in First Class and (for sad gits like me) On Board screens showing a drivers eye view of the journey.

 

[HST Power]

How about massage tables in First Class and (for sad gits like me) On Board screens showing a drivers eye view of the journey.

I'd love the drivers eye view option. You can get similar views on aeroplanes via in-cockpit cameras, so why not for trains? And snooker would be very interesting!

 

[sprinterguy]

I can't imagine a game of pool or snooker would be very competitive on a moving train. As soon as you hit a curve or a notable gradient the balls would be all over the shop. Imagine taking your shot and then rattling over a junction!

It’d just add a bit of unpredictability to the game. Skill would count for nothing and instead victory would rest on knowledge of the route!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Spanish Talgo's used to show films onboard a la airlines, also OBB have a children's cinema on some trains (don't know how big), I have a feeling Sweden & Finland may have something similar

in Poland they have Bar cars rather than buffets, bit stereotypical

In the UK, Grand Central should get Mumtaz to do the catering on Bradford-KGX services

 

[Yorkswatcher]

I traveled on a TGV train and they used the buffet car as more like a bar where table were set out like a bar and were even selling draft beer.

That is something I would like to see.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I traveled on a TGV train and they used the buffet car as more like a bar where table were set out like a bar and were even selling draft beer.

That is something I would like to see.

you get that on german trains (ICE/IC/EC) aswell

 

[Welshman]

given the problems that can and do arise from a minority of drinkers, as is currently being discussed elsewhere, it’d have to be a non-corridor coach to avoid drunks spilling over into the rest of the train.

Given what's usually at the end of the corridor, I don't think I could cope with a Wetherspoon's coach without one!

 

[Howardh]

Personally, I'd like the ability to control the air-conditioning. On the trains I use TPE are the worst offenders, regardless of temperature the air-con is always on, giving you a nice cold-blast throughout the journey, that wind-chill factor is so loverrley!!! So I'd like it as it was, your own personal stream which you could switch on and off.

BTW wouldn't it save fuel money if both the heating AND air-con weren't running at the same time, competing against each other?? Anyway, for 9 months of the year they could switch the air-con off altogether and save some dosh!

 

[WestCoast]

I'd go with the franchise catering/bar area, but that was mentioned before on another thread, where the idea of having a mini-supermarket run by one the chains onboard surfaced.

 

[Anon Mouse]

I was wondering a while ago why the TOCs haven't gone down the franchise route with one of the poncey coffee brands - you know, you see Costas, Prets etc all like a bad rash in any city centre these days. Given the on-train catering which many TOCs provide is a cold buffet with soggy BR sandwiches and the odd toastie thrown in the general direction of the microwave, I'm sure there'd be a market.

Cross Country use Starbucks Coffee and I am sure in National Express East Coast days they used Costa Coffee....

 

[GearJammer]

Could the likes of Greggs and Subway not buy the redundant mk3 buffet cars that are lieing around, convert them to there own use and then just insert them into MK3 operated trains, that way train operators have onboard catering facilities without the expence of operating it themselves. .......just a thought!

 

[gordonthemoron]

greggs should start selling stuff on T&W metros

 

[imagination]

I can't imagine a game of pool or snooker would be very competitive on a moving train. As soon as you hit a curve or a notable gradient the balls would be all over the shop. Imagine taking your shot and then rattling over a junction!

What would happen if, during a game of pool, the black rolled into the pocket of its own accord?

 

[sprinterguy]

greggs should start selling stuff on T&W metros

I second that! They're already everywhere else in north east England...

 

[telstarbox]

Personally I think a Cinema would be good, and maybe even viable, Take some low backed seats, for half a carriage, a few seats out the carriage end and have a projector or some fold down TV's. Charge a few quid for it. Maybe headphones to stop interupting other passangers (almost like the TV's in airlines I suppose?)

To be honest I don't think this or FGW's entertainment carriage are viable in the long run. On long-distance services half the passengers already have laptops/iPads/portable DVD players (and this will only increase) on which they can watch DVDs, downloaded films, go on Facebook etc.

£4 to watch a film while you travel from London to Bristol isn't bad, but there are a number of shortcomings:

• You can buy a DVD at the station WHSmiths (or a vending machine!) for a couple of quid more, and get to keep it after the journey
• It's only useful if there's a big range of films to watch (and they still might not have anything you want to watch)
• It won't ever be as good as a proper cinema

Flights are a bit different as you can't (generally) connect to the internet on a computer and if there's an entertainment system you don't have to pay a charge.

 

[HST Power]

To be honest I don't think this or FGW's entertainment carriage are viable in the long run. On long-distance services half the passengers already have laptops/iPads/portable DVD players (and this will only increase) on which they can watch DVDs, downloaded films, go on Facebook etc.

Flights are a bit different as you can't (generally) connect to the internet on a computer and if there's an entertainment system you don't have to pay a charge.

I agree. Laptops and Ipods have set the stage for long distance train travel. The last flight I went on, they offered those seated in Economy the First Class entertainment upgrade for only a fiver.

 

[WestCoast]

Flights are a bit different as you can't (generally) connect to the internet on a computer and if there's an entertainment system you don't have to pay a charge.

Wi-Fi on aircraft is spreading, there's already a number of airlines in America offering it (for a fee).

As for charges on entertainment systems: it's not unheard of. I can think of a few short-haul airlines (typical flight length of less than 5-6 hours) that do charge for seat-back entertainment.

 

[HST Power]

I'd like all trains to have a view like on the Tyne and Wear Metro, so you can see out of the front and back.

 

[WestCoast]

I'd like all trains to have a view like on the Tyne and Wear Metro, so you can see out of the front and back.

Which is of course a very common thing in continental Europe. It was discussed in this thread.

My personal favourite is the lounge on the latest Siemens Velaros (ICE3s), although it's also a common thing to have at least a partial view on regional units such as the Bombardier TALENT.

 

[SS4]

Some kind of anti-chav barrier. Having one would enable a bar coach as sprinterguy suggests earlier

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Compartments would be nice…I’d limit them to first class only though, to limit the types of unsalubrious activities that can go on in the privacy of a compartment if the yokels were unleashed on them in standard. It might also solve the problem of having to listen to the monotonously tedious conversations of bawdy business types shouting down their phones if they could be shut away in a compartment in first!

As a pure fantasy, to go one up on the old Intercity 125 ability to serve draught beers, I’d want a franchised Wetherspoons bar car. I could roll straight out of the pub, and into another one on the train… You could even have a proper meal service, utilising a scaled down version of Spoons' food menu, now that would be a bit of a novelty in this day and age! However, given the problems that can and do arise from a minority of drinkers, as is currently being discussed elsewhere, it’d have to be a non-corridor coach to avoid drunks spilling over into the rest of the train. Or alternately, employ some particularly burly bouncers to limit inebriated souls exiting to the rest of the train and underage drinkers chancing their luck entering the bar car. If it also served the usual Wetherspoons range of teas, coffees, non-alcoholic juices and nibbles then there could be a market for it beyond alcohol comsumption.

I can see the signs now - Employees must not attempt to access the cellar when the train is in motion.

 

[telstarbox]

I was wondering a while ago why the TOCs haven't gone down the franchise route with one of the poncey coffee brands - you know, you see Costas, Prets etc all like a bad rash in any city centre these days. Given the on-train catering which many TOCs provide is a cold buffet with soggy BR sandwiches and the odd toastie thrown in the general direction of the microwave, I'm sure there'd be a market.

I saw the film Source Code recently which is mostly filmed on the Chicago Metra commuter system, and the downstairs of the (double-decker) train had a Dunkin Donuts coffee bar at one end! Surely there's room for a scaled down Wetherspoons etc, for example where the buffet used to be on an HST?

 

[SS4]

I saw the film Source Code recently which is mostly filmed on the Chicago Metra commuter system, and the downstairs of the (double-decker) train had a Dunkin Donuts coffee bar at one end! Surely there's room for a scaled down Wetherspoons etc, for example where the buffet used to be on an HST?

They could stick a huge bottle of Jack Daniel's on board and a small measuring cup to keep me happy

 

[andyfrommk]

What would happen if, during a game of pool, the black rolled into the pocket of its own accord?

The person whose turn it was would lose, so, if the ball were near a pocket, the players would have to be quick and take their shot, no more taking ages to think about their move.

I wonder if the balls would ever come to a standstill or would you just say, after a while, that the balls aren't moving because you struck them its because of the movement of the train.

 

[Oswyntail]

I would like a well-stocked library, with comfortable, high-back chairs and a big, roaring open fire. With a waiter to bring you cups of tea.

 

[Clip]

....especially for the following:-

IDIOTS WHOSE MUSIC PLAYERS ARE ALWAYS ON

Thats a bit harsh. Mine is Always on, but not at a volume that will disturb others/make me not hear the guard come round.

Fridges of some sort would be fantastic-as mentioned. Just a small flip top box that can hold 4 cans would do.

 

[MKB]

So, What do you think would be cool to have on a train?

Personally I think a Cinema would be good, and maybe even viable, Take some low backed seats, for half a carriage, a few seats out the carriage end and have a projector or some fold down TV's. Charge a few quid for it. Maybe headphones to stop interupting other passangers (almost like the TV's in airlines I suppose?)

Your ideas?

South Korean KTX trains have this in the end carriage:

http://limdongcheol.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ktxcinema1.jpg

Contrary to that photo, on the train I took, the windows were blacked out and the carriage was in darkness apart from the light reflected from the screen. The screen is half-way along the carriage and is two-sided. It is projected on from both sides, with seats rotated to face the screen. (In other carriages, seats are rotated to face the direction of travel.) There is a surround-sound system in each half of the carriage.

 

[Class172]

1st class compartments would be very good.

Also I like the idea of tv screens so you can have a drivers eye view, they could either go in 1st class or a special designated area (or at least a gps system that tells you exactly where you are on the screen